The Advantage Of Wearing Your Heart On Your Copy

You’re familiar with the saying, right?

Well, at least with wearing your heart on your sleeve.

Maybe not on your copy.

But I think good copywriting can learn something from that old saying.

You see, wearing your heart on your sleeve is just a different way of saying you openly express your emotions.

Good or bad, you’re just upfront about how you feel.

Now, if it’s something you’re embarrassed about, you might figure that being totally open about it is the last thing you want to be…

Especially when it comes to selling your product or service.

But for me it’s the opposite.

I think you should be open.

When I read a promotion in which the author has revealed something of himself, I’m much more inclined to engage with him and ultimately choose their product over someone else’s.

You can see a good example of what I mean in the promotion that Lee Moore put together for FX Friday.

Have a look at this extract:

“I mentioned earlier I got made redundant…
Being made redundant isn’t nice for anyone.

“And I admit, at the time it wasn’t pleasant.

“But it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. I’ll tell you why…

“Whilst I was still stuck in the dingy IT department, when I got chance I’d fumble around in the forex markets, placing a trade here, a trade there.

“I’d read about different forex opportunities and get really excited about the prospect of picking up some extra cash. But when it came down to it, part of me held back. As excited as I was about the opportunity, I wasn’t 100%.

“Then I got handed my P45.

“Sure, for a week or two I was in shock. At a loose end, I wasn’t sure what to do. But then I realised it was the perfect opportunity to really put these ideas to the test.

“It was an opportunity to prove to myself – to that doubtful side that was holding me back – whether the opportunity to make money in the forex markets was real.”

Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything wrong with you. Far from it. Businesses change and often it can mean a job disappears.

Still, being made redundant isn’t something you really want to share with people.

But that’s exactly what Lee does.

He’s open about it and by being so, to me, he comes across a lot more genuine.

Here’s the thing though…

Wearing your heart on your copy like this isn’t just about making some kind of play for sympathy.

Instead, it’s about taking personal experiences and using them to illustrate a point.

What Lee does in the extract above is use his redundancy to explain how he first discovered forex trading and how he first started to put together his FX Friday system.

I find it very effective.

So, when it comes to promoting your own products or services, whatever they may be, consider for a moment whether you could relate a personal experience – positive or negative – to the product or service you’re selling.

Do so and I’m sure you’ll find that the promotion is that much more effective.

By the way, I know a lot of Shortcut Readers have already reserved one of the 500 copies of Lee’s FX Friday system – last time I check it was in the hundreds – but there are still copies left.

So, if you haven’t got your name down to be one of the first to get in on FX Friday…

Make sure you do today.

And make sure you have a great weekend too.

Category: Copywriting